


cain gets what he deserves

by thyme (mars_lave)



Series: BTHB Bingo [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: BTHB, Not Beta Read, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28828392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mars_lave/pseuds/thyme
Summary: The world swam before his eyes, nausea creeping into his stomach as his head slammed against the metal floor. The short guard crouched down, grabbing his wrists hardly and zip tying them together. His vision faded, logic buzzing fruitlessly amongst his head, screaming to get up as the world faded to a dark.or the consequences of Cain's immaturity hit him hard.
Series: BTHB Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113764
Kudos: 1





	cain gets what he deserves

**Author's Note:**

> yo. take this with no context because I wanted to post it somewhere. This is for "bound and gagged" on my BTHB bingo card

Cain ripped away from Ren’s hold, stalking down the dimn hallway of the base, “What do you think I’m going to do?” 

“Sh!” Ren ran forward, catching up to him. They had to speed forward to catch up with his walking pace, “Stop running off. We made a plan, you have to stick to it.”

“The plan’s shit,” he said, walking faster to try and lose Ren. They were supposed to take care of the guards.

For such a small crime-ring, they were surprisingly well funded. Enough that it had taken the team a month just to track them down. He preferred simpler things, this type of stuff wasn’t exactly what he’d pictured doing when he began vigilante work. And when he joined the team. He was better suited for physical fights, hand to hand. 

“The plan is what’s holding this entire mission together,” Ren glared at him, “It’s what’ll keep us alive, what’ll keep you alive.” Some plan it was, no one asked for his input on it. 

“I don’t need some faulty plan to keep me alive,” Cain didn’t look back, “Why do you even care?”

“What’s your issue?” they asked.

“You don’t trust me,” he spat, “You don’t need to babysit me, I can handle it on my own.”

“It’s not about you,” Ren matched his walking pace, “It’s about completing the mission. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“You wouldn’t care,” he scoffed, “I can handle it. I have before, what’s with the change?”

“The change is me noticing a pattern,” they pulled him closer to the wall, “You constantly going off plan, constantly messing up things. And yes, I’d care if you died. If you die, we’re down a member. An incompetent one, yes, but still down one.”

“I’m not incompetent!”

“And Alyssa would be upset,” they added after a pause, ignoring his comment.

“Would you be?” he asked.

“What, upset?” Ren stopped for a moment, they slowed their walking pace, “Why do you ask?”

“So, no,” Cain said.

“I didn’t say that,” they walked on for a moment, then stopped, looking back at him, “What do you expect? You’re constantly disrespectful and outright cruel to us.”

“Cruel?” he laughed, “What have I done that’s so bad? You’re the one who-” he stopped, “We’ve known each other for seven years, you really wouldn’t care? Doesn’t that make you cruel?”

Ren frowned, “Whenever you insult people, you always claim that it’d be worse for you to lie to their faces. You claim that’s honesty, not cruelty. Why is it any different if it’s coming from someone else?”

“That’s not fair,” Cain’s voice was quieter, he swallowed. 

“Maybe not,” they shrugged, “But it’s true, no?”

“No - no it’s not,” he stopped walking, “You think you’re so much better than me, huh? What, because -”

“Stop, insulting me isn’t going to do anything,” Ren interrupted. “Can we finish this?”

“No, fuck you,” he spat, “I’ll do it myself. I’m not - I’m not incompetent. You are!”

“You argue like a child,” Ren turned around, sweeping their hair up in a bun, “Good luck.”

“You’re just going to leave?”

“That’s what you asked for?” Ren sent him a look, “What - nevermind.”

“What happened to sticking to the plan?” he called out. Ren ignored him, turning a corner. “Thanks for your honesty, I guess.”

Cain cursed under his breath, now Ren would be all pissed off later and tell Alyssa. Then Alyssa would yell at him because none of them seemed to have a single ounce of respect for him! They treated him the same way they did Arrie, all delicate and wary. He wasn’t the same as some kid with a hero complex, he had experience, skill. 

They were respectful towards him, weren’t they? They didn’t lie, didn’t sugar coat anything - so why did he feel like such shit? They never seemed to like him for reasons Cain couldn’t determine, didn’t matter what he did. He’d assumed they’d had a middle ground between liking each other and disliking ; they tolerated one another’s presence. It wasn’t hate, it was neutrality.

Apparently it was none of those things. Ren was apathetic towards him. Somehow, that was worse. He wasn’t enough to be hated, wasn’t enough to be loved. How had he not seen it?

Cain walked down the halls faster, his heart rate speeding up. He was supposed to be better at this, he was supposed to be able to know when someone was lying. He always knew. How had he missed it?

Maybe it was the same with Alyssa.

It’s what drew him to her, she seemed genuine. There was a difference, though, wasn’t there? In the way she interacted with him and how she did with the others. He’d mistaken her rigidness for respect, her unoriginal affections as default, not as an obligation. Not as uncaring.

Was he a fool for caring back? For believing her to be genuine? For all of them, he’d thought he could see through their lies. He was just as ignorant as the rest of them.

He wasn’t anyone’s friend, he was a tool. What had Ren said, that they’d be ‘down a member’ if he died. That was it. He was just an annoyance to them, just helpful enough not to push away.

Liars, that’s what they were.

At least he had the decency to tell them upfront about how he felt instead waiting for years.

Cain stalked down the hallway, he was used to this. He had been used to this. Yet, instead of it feeling familiar he felt 15 again. Naive and vulnerable and stupid. Good for nothing other than his skills in their eyes. 

What made him so difficult to love?

Why was it so hard not to care? How were they so apathetic when he couldn’t bc? 

Perhaps he was inherently destined for a loveless life, cursed from the day he was born to be scorned. He wasn’t made for the company of others, no matter how much he craved it.

Footsteps sounded from his side, he jerked to the side, “Ren?”

No one responded. He looked around, a tall figure stood in one of the doorways. Their features were obscured by the heavy darkness hanging within the hallway. They were too tall and broad to be any of his teammates. He took a step back - shit.

The figure lunged forward before he could react, pinning him to the ground. Cain activated his powers, increasing the temperature in his hands to enough to burn his attacker. He pressed his hands against their chest.

The figure hissed but didn’t let go. They grabbed onto his wrist and pushed it to the ground. They then advanced on him, pushing their knee into his stomach. Cain winced, tensing at the pain, He took his other free hand and grabbed onto their face, burning them.

They yelled out and their grip loosened. He took the opportunity, pulling away from them harshly. He scrambled back, trying to get to his feet. The figure was faster. They crashed against him, forcing him against the wall. They ripped out a knife from their belt, jutting it against his neck. They pushed their arm against his chest, keeping him there.

He breathed out hard, meeting their narrowed eyes. They pressed the knife in further, drawing beads of blood, “What are you doing here? Who do you work for?” He didn’t respond, grabbing onto the arm keeping him in place. They tensed and dug the knife in further, “Do you have a death wish? Try that again and I’ll slit your throat.”

“Sure,” he said, tone cold and disbelieving. 

“Wanna test it?” they pressed the knife. Cain yelled out.

“Calm down! Fine - fine,” he said. When they didn’t release their knife he pushed forward, kicking out and forcing them off of him. He got to his feet around the same time they did. He punched them the moment they stood up. They swung to the side, stumbling back. They looked up, furious.

Whoops.

Cain ran the other direction, if Ren was going to be an ass so was he. Fuck the plan. 

His footsteps echoed across the hallway, he swerved around a corner, sliding down the hallway off the momentum of his speed. He could hear the guard behind him, catching up with his pace and drawing near.

Another guard was stationed outside one of the doors, she was short and had a long braid trailing down her back. Her eyes widened when she spotted Cain. She ran towards him, Cain glanced back. He was being closed in on. The other guard forced a taser to his side. Electricity wracked through his body, Cain screamed out in pain, collapsing to the floor. 

The world swam before his eyes, nausea creeping into his stomach as his head slammed against the metal floor. The short guard crouched down, grabbing his wrists hardly and zip tying them together. His vision faded, logic buzzing fruitlessly amongst his head, screaming to get up as the world faded to a dark.

***

He wakes to the taste and fraying texture of old rope in his mouth and pressing against his jaw tight enough to leave indents for hours. The same rope is tied around his wrist and ankles, scratchy against his skin and almost burn like in its’ small pain; unable to even be called pain and better defined as an annoyance tugging at the places where his bones shown through his skin.

It was still dark, his eyes were slowly adjusting, though. Peeking through his foggy visions were the silhouettes of two people, the belts outlined sharply against their hips were a sure sign of their status as a guard. He guessed the two from before from, one resembling the bulky figure of the female guard - the other held the same tenseness in their arms.

He shouted through the thick rope, only resulting in a muffled whine. The female guard looked back and snorted a laugh, “You have something to say?”

Now in the light he could see her better, curly hair was tied back into a ponytail tight enough that it tugged at her forehead. She smirked in the adjusting darkness, “What? Can’t you use your words?”

She found joy in this? Damn bitch, she should take her kinks somewhere else. He tried to shout again to no avail other than catching the other guard’s attention. They scoffed, fiddling with their knife, it was pressed into their belt and quite available to be pulled out. A threat, he guessed, although a poor one at that. 

He screamed again, almost curious about their reaction more than anything. Nothing, he screamed again. The knife was ripped out of its spot and raised, silver and standing out in the dark. The female guard stepped forward, her laugh breathy and mocking.

“Don’t mess it up too much,” she stepped in between the two. It?! “We can’t damage the product.”

The other guard shifted their weight, the knife still held up, “We’ll lose the product if we keep letting him squeal, the walls are thin and I’m willing to bet that there’s more of where he came from. Just a small cut, they won’t know it came from us.”

“Maybe,” she shrugged, “It’ll just freak out more if you cut it. Scream and shit.”

Fuck, he should’ve paid attention during Dante’s rant on the ring. What did they do? What were they going to do to him, more importantly? He tried to yell out again, maybe if one of the team was nearby they’d go and investigate and -

But they didn’t care, did they? What had Ren said, again, that he was incompetent. That they only put up with him for what he could do and for Alyssa’s emotional state. Maybe it was the same for the others. Eric?

Not Eric, maybe Dante but he - Eric cared about him! He cared. 

_Or maybe you’re not as good at catching lies than you think you are._

Seven years of what Cain considered friendship, ripped away. He was just a nuisance, they’d get rid of him soon enough. Seven years overdue. Eric was getting stronger, he’d be able to replace Cain in a bit of time. Not to mention how they kept working with other vigilantes, were they looking for someone else? Had he mistaken replacements for charity cases?

The guard ripped around at the yell, they pulled back their leg and kicked him in his ribs. Pain radiated from his chest like nothing else, he could hear the all too familiar crack as their metal soled boot touched the bones, breaking one. They kicked again, near his shoulder. Than his stomach again.

“Sam!” the female guard shouted out, rage clenching her features and voice much louder than his had been.

The other guard, or Sam, just sighed sharply, “Quiet, you’re not helping with all the yelling. He won’t make noise now, right?” They glanced down at Cain, his tied wrists were wrapped as much as they could around his chest. “Right?” they repeated.  
Cain made a quiet noise of agreement, fuck, that hurt. His vision blurred, water spotted darkness melting together under the lens of his pain.

“Is that a yes?” the female guard asked, she waited a moment. 

“I’ll take it as a yes, try again and you’ll lose another rib,” Sam spat.

“Lose another rib?” the female guard mocked.

“Shut up.”

Cain tried to focus on anything other than the pain, it felt all-consuming. There was very little other stimuli to distract his addled brain from. He kept his eyes shut, his faltering vision was dizzying. The bickering of the guards filled his mind, incomprehensible to him. It was just a distant sound.

Then, there was something else. The clack of footsteps, not as hefty as the metal twinged boots of the guards. It grew louder, loud to his hyper-focused ears but maybe not so much to the guards who were still caught up in a conversation based on mocking each other.

The footsteps stopped. He tried to move forward to hear better. There was nothing, then the door slammed to the floor. Cain jerked back as much as he could. The end of it fell onto his side, he whimpered, the weight of it pressing on his broken ribs. He forced himself to look up.  
Alyssa stood in the doorway, eyes meeting his all soft and concerned, a contrast to the quite violent entrance she’d made. She looked away from him and then to the guards. Her arm shot up, ripping up the metal in their shoes and weapons and throwing it against them, restraining them both against the walls. She twisted her hand, locking the metal in place despite the guards’ frenzied yells. 

She crouched down to Cain, pulled her scarf down so he could see her whole face. Her hand cupped his check, lifting it up, “Dammit, Cain,” Alyssa mumbled.  
Oh, was it the same with Alyssa as well? An annoyance, a charity case, god no. He could deal with Ren, he could deal with Dante. Not Alyssa. He shut his eyes, not wanting his tears to show. Pathetic. He should’ve predicted this, shouldn’t have joined in the first place.

Alyssa tugged on the restraint around his mouth, she rubbed her thumb along the idents it left as he gasped for air. “You’re okay,” she whispered, “Let me get the rest off, alright? Then we can leave, we got what we needed.” She untied to the other knots quickly. He tried to stand up, or straighten up at the least only to freeze as pain struck through him. 

Alyssa grabbed onto his shoulder and whipped around towards the guards, “What did you do?!”

Sam cringed, “We just kicked him! Calm down.”

She glared, “Bitch.”

Cain pressed his head to her shoulder, exhaustion hitting hard. Even if it wasn’t true, maybe he could pretend for a bit longer that her love was as genuine as his. Alyssa pressed a hand to his head, running her fingers through his poorly-dyed hair with a gentle touch. She stayed like that for a moment before speaking.

“You’re alright,” she whispered, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Yeah,” he said, “Yeah, okay.” He pulled away, let go of that faux narrative. Alyssa was one good liar, that he could appreciate. As truthful as he was dishonest. And that is to say, not at all.

She hoisted him up, arm wrapped under his shoulders. He tried to stand on his own, pain blurring his senses again. The other members would take this better, wouldn’t force Alyssa to coddle them because he couldn’t even take one broken rib.

“Sorry,” he managed as Alyssa dragged him out.

She almost stopped in her quick walk towards the exit, “What?!”

“I said sorry.”

She pursed her lips, “Did you hit your head too?”

“That’s not funny.”

“Wasn’t meant to be.”

Alyssa paused, “Uh, well, what for?”

“I should be stronger,” like he’d said before, he was supposed to be the strong one. Dumb muscle guy. Alyssa was probably stronger than him, to be honest, but still.

“You don’t need to be,” she said after another pause, “And you can like, work out more? It’s not too big of a deal.”

“It is,” he nodded, trying to focus on walking, the daze of pain messed with his logic. “Ren would’ve been able to take this.”

“Well,” she sighed, “You’re not Ren - no one wants you to be Ren.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he didn’t speak for a moment. “What do you guys want me to be anyway?” he swallowed, “You’d do fine without me, are you just waiting for someone better to accept an invite?”

Alyssa stopped this time, “What - Cain, you’re our friend. We like you, not what you can do for us, we’re not assholes - contrary to what you may think.”

“I don’t think you guys are assholes,” he mumbled. Alyssa seemed rather surprised at that.

“What you say makes us think otherwise.”

“No, no you guys are nice,” he pressed against her side, not able to keep himself up. “All of you. Even.. even Ren.”

Alyssa laughed softly, “Where’s this coming from?” she took a breath, “Cain, we want Cain, not some stronger version of you, not a Ren clone. Just Cain.”

“I don’t think everyone agrees with you, don’t speak for them,” he scoffed.

“Who says?”

“Ren, probably Dante,” he said, feeling awfully immature. Like a child telling on their classmate, “I’m only good for you as long as I’m useful, right? Just be honest with me.”

“Your ‘honesty’ is faulty,” she said, rather sharply, “It’s not honesty or the truth, just you assuming things. We’ll stick around you no matter what, even if you want to stop doing this type of work, even if you claim to hate us. We’re your fr-family. It’s what we do.” She squeezed his arm, “Fuck whoever says otherwise.”

“I don’t know if you’re lying or not but -”

She interrupted, “Trust me, okay? It’s all I ask.”

He shut up, not wanting to bother her further. They left the building, sunlight scratched against his eyelids, splotchy. Alyssa dragged him over to the car, shoving him unceremoniously inside before climbing in. He was squished against Eric’s small form, Alyssa by his side. 

“Everyone good?” Ren - fucking Ren -looked back, they faltered at Cain, looking down as something sparked in their eyes. Sickeningly familiar, that was guilt. Towards... him?

“Yeah,” Alyssa pulled her seatbelt over, “Guards are tied up, I left them there. We can’t do anything about them.”

“We could interrogate?” Dante suggested.

“Doesn’t matter, there’s no space and it’s done already,” Ren started up the car, they swerved away from the building.  
With the rumble from the car, exhaustion from the evening and the seatbelt pressing into his ribs, he pressed into Alyssa’s shoulder, dazed. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do heading forward, forget Ren’s words?

Watch closer, maybe. Don’t trust them as much as he had, he couldn’t trust anyone. They all lied.

Alyssa wrapped an arm around him, pulling him closer and he just felt himself melt into the warmth and innate safety of her arms. He really was weak.  
He let his eyes fall to a shut, giving into his instincts. He stayed like that, beginning to drift from consciousness. 

“Is he okay?” Eric spoke out, voice quiet. Cain didn’t respond, not feeling up for it. 

“I think so,” Alyssa mumbled, “Ren, weren’t you supposed to stay with him?”

They scoffed, “He ran off, got pissed at me for telling him to follow the plan.”

Alyssa sighed, “He’s just -”

“I know. It’s Cain, can’t expect much.”

“Hey,” Alyssa said, not objecting much, “He’s just … he wants to be useful. He is.”

“Intentions don’t matter that much. And today, he wasn’t.”

She sighed, “Just leave him alone for now, please? We all fuck up sometimes.”

“I wasn’t going to do anything,” they huffed, “But fine.”

If Alyssa cared when it wasn’t in front of him, did that mean it wasn’t a performance? Was it genuine? Or was he yet again a fool.

"Really," Alyssa said, "His - our mistakes don't define us. That's all it was a mistake."

"Maybe," Ren said, and Cain settles on that. Maybe feels right to him, uncertain and bordering on the verge of either yes or no. He let himself drift, he was a maybe to them. Something blurry and too in between to decide to let go or not. Maybe he could be okay with maybe, if it meant they kept him for the time being. Even if they were lying, it was better to be in a faux friendship than to be alone in his misery.

**Author's Note:**

> this is shitty but posting gives me serotonin so anyone who reads this has to suffer. sorry.


End file.
